Book Review: The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

I read The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley and I’m not sure how I feel about it as I write this review.

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

I was aware of the premise of the book from the description on the back, but when I started reading it I felt that it should have gone on a completely different story line. The story takes place around 6 sisters. I am aware that the title is The Seven Sisters, but I will get to that. Each of the 6 girls was adopted by an affluent and highly secretive business man. He named them from the constellation Taurus, the Seven Sisters of Greek myth. Maia, is the oldest and the main character of this book. Since it’s the start of a series I will assume that the books will tackle the other sisters stories in turn.

The other sisters in order of birth: Alcyone (Ally), Asterope (Star), Celeano (CeCe), Taygete (Tiggy) and Electra.

The youngest sister of the myth, is Merope, that completes the Seven Sisters. When asked about it, when the girls were younger, Pa Salt (so named for his love of the ocean) told the girls that he never found Merope . Riley has a good start to this series with The Seven Sisters: A Novel.

All the girls are adopted and brought back to live in Geneva, Switzerland, with a nanny (that they called Ma) and a cook, acting as their caregivers while Pa was away on business.

The story starts with the death of Pa Salt and the need for the girls to return home immediately. This is where I thought that when they returned home that they find that they all have a super power and his dark secret was that he was keeping the world safe from evil.

As cool as that all sounded in my head, that storyline was not the way it was going. Pa Salt left letters and coordinates to their places of birth so that all 6 of them could find out about their past.

Still a great story, I’m a little sad that no one can fly though. Maia and her past is the focus of this story. With the premise being getting out of town before an old boyfriend shows up, she decides to head to Brazil to find out about her past.

Since her job is translating books, she is well adept in Portuguese and is able to make her way around the city fairly well.

The little detail that struck me as odd was Maia has been to Brazil before on a class trip. Since she has eaten the food before why order a Caesar salad her first night at the hotel? Brazilian food is vibrant and flavorful. Picadinho (diced meat) and beans and rice would be a local, popular dish in Rio. And it looks yummy.

What is fun about this book is with an introduction of letters, you are swept into the past back to the time of
Maia’s grandmother when she was 18.All the events starting with a proposal and a trip to Europe that started the path that would end in Maia’s adoption.

The descriptions are vivid and the characters’ feelings are palpable. I found myself staying up later and later at night to hear more of the grandmother’s life.

When I started this book, I wasn’t sure how I felt. Since the book wasn’t going the way I had planned in my head, I think I was not looking at the story clearly.

But the story itself is well written, extremely interesting and the sisters (with the exception of one, you will know who once you read the books) are likable.

I’m just itching to know more about the 7th missing sister. Since she is the youngest, her full story may not play out until the end of the series.

I’m not sure that I can wait that long.

The Storm Sister, which is Ally’s story, is out in November. If she keeps this writing pace up we may know all the secrets these sisters have in a few short years.

As I write all this out I realize, without the super powers or hidden underground lair, I enjoyed the book. It kept me reading, I wanted to know more about the characters and I felt for them. The true indicators of a great book. Now, if I can read the next book without thinking Ally is going to use her x-ray vision, I’ll enjoy it more.